• by Sara Guaglione , July 13, 2018

A holding company owned by Bryan Goldberg, cofounder of Bleacher Report and founder of the Bustle Digital Group, won a bankruptcy auction held Thursday for Gawker.com and its assets.

Sources claim the bid was near $1.5 million.

The Gawker assets acquired by Goldberg include the Gawker.com domain, social-media accounts and an archive of almost 200,000 articles.

In a memo to Bustle staff obtained by CNN, Goldberg wrote: “You are probably wondering what happens next. The short answer is this — not much. We have no immediate plans to re-launch Gawker. For now, things will stay as they are.”

“There are a lot of people who have opinions about Gawker, and I’d like to spend the next few months listening to them," he told The Wall Street Journal.

Gawker was estimated to be worth $100 million before Hulk Hogan won a lawsuit against the company for publishing his sex tape, forcing the publisher into bankruptcy. Gawker.com shut down in August 2016; Univision bought its six sister websites for $135 million in 2017.

Earlier this week, Univision announced it is considering selling those sites as part of a restructuring effort.

Goldberg beat out New York-based marketing firm Didit. Didit wanted to relaunch Gawker.com with a new editorial mission: “Gawker For Good.”

Kevin Lee, Didit cofounder and executive chairman told Publishers Daily in May he envisioned the site focusing on positive entertainment, sports, gaming and celebrity news. He planned to donate half of all advertising-sponsorship revenue to nonprofit organizations chosen by readers and content creators.

Another marketing company, Next Net Media, also bid for Gawker and its archives, according to multiple reports.

Goldberg’s bid for Gawker.com will need to be approved by the bankruptcy court.